The Ice Queen
by Burntwhitemocha
Summary: Elsa is the greatest and most feared throughout the nation due to her powers. She raids a nearby village and takes a young girl Anna hostage. But can Anna melt the ice queens heart? Rating will definitely be upped. Dark Elsanna but Elsanna nonetheless. (Original pen name- dreamerlikeyou)
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer- I do not own frozen or any of its characters.

The Ice Queen.

Elsa's soldiers talked and laughed amongst themselves in rough and menacing voices. They took no notice of the terrified village folk as they huddled together in the main square, the familiar fountains surrounding them, once producing calm and gentle waters that sprouted into the sky now carried a warning of danger. The territorial marks of which were associated with the southern isles were now frozen stiff. Frozen into sharp and terrifying shapes which loomed aggressively over the townsfolk.

Suddenly, silence fell, the only sounds remaining being the horse's hooves as they stamped the ground or the chilling cry of a child amongst the people.

A magnificent white stallion was walking obediently toward the prisoners. He rolled his head, mouthing the bit. A tall and blonde-haired woman sat in the saddle. She was dressed in blue armour and her unsettling, sharp blue eyes flashed in the darkening light.

She breathed out a sigh of what seemed to be boredom as she studied the captives frustrated. Her horse stamped the ground as she swung easily out of the saddle, walking toward them menacingly with her hands by her side.

The atmosphere changed distinctively when she walked toward them, and the prisoners began to breathe smoke as the temperature lowered dramatically.

"So" The infamous ice queen began. The voice was sharp and the kind that demanded respect from everyone. "Please, can someone tell me why the southern isles have not given your generous Ice Queen the supplies and food your pathetic state owe me?"

No one spoke for a long moment, before a low voice cried out near the back. "We've given you all we have!" murmurs rose among the villagers as they turned to one of the elders who had spoken. "Please, leave us alone!" He continued desperately and Elsa's eyes chilled to an inhuman ice. In a mere second he was brought out in front of her, arms being held by two men on either side.

She interlaced her hands at her stomach. "General Hans. Release him."

The taller of the two men let go and gave a small nod of his head in a show of respect. He was followed by the other general as Elsa walked up to him, a bored expression on her face. "I have given the southern isles long enough to prepare for my visit here." Elsa said loudly, taking a step closer to the older man. "And everyone knows what happens to those who don't obey me."

The crowds eyes widened in feared fascination as shards of ragged ice came up around the man's body, covering and holding him in place. With a flick of her hand the ice travelled further in a ring of death around his quivering neck. Elsa smiled wickedly as her hand rose to give the final blow.

"Leave him alone!"

The woman's dangerous glare darted to the voice that had come from the crowd. A village girl stood there, scowling at the ice queen, hands balled into fists at her side. Elsa's eyes narrowed with faint amusement as the young girl's height probably only reached her chin. She was probably in her late teens, with dark auburn hair and eyes that flashed with green.

Elsa's eyes narrowed like silver flint as the corners of her lips were tugged into a smirk. "Bring that one to me."

Hans nodded and called for general Marshall to help him, but the girl brushed off their rough hands in annoyance and took a daring step closer to the ice queen. Elsa's amusement grew as she abandoned the man in the ice and walked towards her, almost gently. She studied the younger girls expression with professional eyes and a heavy tension hung in the air.

"You know" Elsa said wickedly as she took a final step closer toward her, mere inches between them. The young girls eyes remained as still and as focused as possible, adrenaline still shooting through her body.

"I can hear your heart-beat from here."

The redhead blinked, eyes dipping down slightly in troubled innocence. The tension between them was magnetic and even the villagers who had began to call the young girls name were completely silent.

The redhead swallowed as Elsa studied her eyes. Demand for justice and kindness had brought the girl up here to face her. Reckless stupidity and a lack of knowledge had caused her to stay. Did the girl not realise what she was capable of? How much she was feared? _Damned martyr._

Elsa's eyes snapped up to the generals. "Hans, Marshall. Take all the captives and destroy this village. You should be able to get a small price for them." Elsa scrunched up her nose with distaste. "Not very hard-working though."

Cries were issued from the villagers as the guards moved in on them.

"Anna!" A blonde man, tall in height and definite in strength and power began to push through the guards. Elsa watched with boredom as Anna rushed to him, but the guards held her back with unbeatable force. "Kristoff!" She cried sadly reaching out her hand to grab the rugged man's outstretched one.

Elsa had seen enough and began to walk toward her obedient horse.

"Hans. The girl comes with me" she called over her shoulder. There were immediate pleas of mercy from the villagers but Anna turned deathly silent,

Hans grabbed onto Anna's elbow and pulled the squirming girl toward the queen's horse. He shackled the young girls hands without speaking and handed the other end of the chain to Elsa.

"Be quick Hans. I want this village off the map before sunrise."She pushed her mount onto the path that would eventually lead to her Castle- Arendelle. With a whimpering Anna being tugged on the chain behind her. Twelve mounted soldiers followed the ice queen in her wake.

The queen and her soldiers rode until the full moon had climbed high into the sky. Cold evening winds had settled and a bitter cold surrounded them, although the soldiers would never admit it to their queen, the cold was beginning to get too much for them. Shivering, they gripped their reins harder and pushed their mounts forward into the night.

The Ice Queen turned her head to look at the prisoner. Anna's head was down, in an attempt to keep the wind from her face. The shackles that were around her wrist were bundled at her chest and her ankle length green skirt was torn and dirty.

Elsa's eyes furrowed, she took in the state of her soldiers and decided what needed to be done. She was a fair queen after all.

She turned her stallion to face her men. "We will find a place to camp for the night." Elsa ignored the sounds of quiet relief as she pointed her finger to a forest in the distance. "The trees will give us shelter, we ride there now."

Elsa turned her glance back to the younger girl who was shivering uncontrollably. "Anna?" Elsa said with a note of hesitation in her voice. She had heard that blonde man refer to her using her name. The pale girl lifted her head slowly and was met with inhuman icy eyes. "Get on the horse" Elsa said stiffly, giving the chain a small tug. The redhead shook her head defiantly. "No. I'm not coming anywhere near you," tears welling up in her innocent eyes. "I want to go back home." Elsa grimaced, well aware the temperature was dropping by the second.

"You'll freeze if you don't get on this horse." Elsa said more softly, giving Anna a bigger tug so she was by Elsa's stirrup. "Last chance, or I leave." Elsa remarked coldly, well awake that her soldiers were watching them both intently.

Anna shivered with the cold. The last few hours of walking without any breaks had left her exhausted, cold and starving. She gave a faint nod and moved closer to Elsa's horse. The beast snorted as he felt the younger girl get up onto the saddle, and pawed at the ground impatiently.

Anna was in front of Elsa on the horse and she flinched when surprisingly soft arms were placed either side of her waist allowing Elsa to steer her horse to the forest.

Anna mumbled something inaudible for the older girl to be able to hear. It was all too much. Her adrenaline had ran out and she was well past the stage of being able to keep her eyes open. Closing her eyes, she let sleep overcome her.

A/N I run on reviews and feedback, if you think I did an okay job and you like the idea of the story please review. Just a word will do : )

It means I'll update faster because I have something to go on.


	2. Chapter 2

Anna mumbled as something cool touched her forehead. Whimpering, she opened her eyes only to meet a pair of icy, blue orbs regarding her quietly.

Anna blinked, squinting from the light that was pouring into the forest. _Was it a dream? _Taking in her surroundings she felt her heart drop. Soldiers were packing up tents and saddling up horses and at once Anna felt like crying. It wasn't a dream. It was all very, very real.

"Get up." Elsa said roughly throwing a wet cloth to the right of her. "You were no use to anybody last night."

There was something in Elsa's voice that made Anna feel strangely uncomfortable, she attempted to stand up, only to realise her wrists were still bound in familiar black shackles by her waist. Uttering a soft groan Anna rose, realising she had been sleeping in a make-shift tent. She trailed after the ice-queen as they walked toward the white stallion. With each movement Anna uncovered new pains and stiffness in her body. Her neck ached from sleeping in a bad position and her wrists were red and sore.

Elsa took the reins of her horse from one of the soldiers. She patted its neck gently as she overlooked the girth and the saddle. And Anna watched with guarded interest. Regardless of her situation, she was standing right in front of the infamous Ice Queen. Stories and rumours had filtered their way through Anna's small village and like many others, Anna couldn't help but ponder how many of them were assumptions and which were true.

The Ice Queen was shrouded with mystery and Anna took in her form with lowered eyes. She had blonde, long hair and was very slender, with high cheekbones which complimented her snow white complexion. How could someone so utterly beautiful Anna thought almost resentfully be the most feared and most powerful person through the lands?

A rumbling stomach interrupted Anna's thoughts as she was reminded of how thirsty she was as well as hungry. Maybe she could ask Elsa?

Timidly, Anna looked around. She contemplated making a run for it, apart from Elsa who was standing a few feet away from her the guards took no notice of the redhead. It would be considerably easy just to-

"Don't even think about." Elsa said almost mockingly. She turned to face Anna's large and shocked eyes and tilted her head slightly. "I'm a lot stronger than you, and can easily over power you. So what good will running do?" Elsa managed to convey a silent warning to Anna with her eyes without even twitching a muscle.

Anna obediently took a step closer to the Ice Queen, peering up at her through a fringe of dark black lashes. "E-Elsa please I-" The blonde flashed with a sudden anger and came up to Anna's face, her movements incredibly swift. She looked into Anna's fearful green eyes as she felt her horse tug against the reigns uneasily. "You will address me as your majesty or Queen Elsa when you speak to me. Is that understood?"

Anna almost had to blink back tears. "It's just that- I'm so hungry. And if you could maybe just give me something small that would be fine. I didn't eat yesterday and I'm so thirsty too." There was a small pause as Anna's heartbeat rose faster. "Queen Elsa." She added, notably biting out the words.

Elsa's eyebrows lifted with faint amusement at the young girls tone. There was a flicker of emotion in Elsa's cold eyes, which Anna saw for a second before it vanished as quickly as it came behind a wall of ice.

She turned on her heel and put her foot in the stirrup as she swung herself into her saddle, her earlier anger disappearing as quickly as it had appeared. "Get on the horse. We're not too far away from Arendelle, or would you prefer to walk there before you can drink?" Elsa said to Anna with soft sarcasm lacing her words. Anna's eyebrows furrowed. _She's asking me questions she already knows the answer too._ She gazed around at the soldiers quickly who were already mounting the horses.

Scowling silently, she moved over to Elsa and the blonde lifted the girl onto the saddle with little apparent effort. The older girl placed her arms round Anna's waist so she could once again control the reigns and kicked the horse forward into a slow canter.

Anna gripped onto the saddle-horn as tightly as she could with her shackled wrists as she felt Elsa's body press into hers from behind.

For a while, the two of them were silent. Until suddenly Elsa tugged on the reigns to slow the responsive stallion to a walk, she gripped the reigns in one hand as the Ice Queen dipped her arm into the saddlebag and produced a water skin. She passed it to Anna. "Here, drink this." She said softly. Anna took it without hesitation. "Thank you, your majesty" Anna replied timidly, opening it up and drinking the fresh and cool water. When she had finished Elsa replaced it back in the saddlebag. The air took on a cold tinge as the scrubby wilderness gave way to sudden snow. The ice walls of Arendelle came into view on the horizon.

Anna's eyes widened. 'Wow.'

Elsa glanced at her captive. "Ever stepped foot out of your village Anna?" she said mildy.

Anna's wary eyes peered up at her. "No M'am" came the careful reply. "I've never been out of the colony before."

Elsa smirked, but didn't say anything more and the group of soldiers continued into the thickening land of snow.

"it's beautiful" Anna said genuinely. She stared up at the kingdom of ice in silent admiration. Surprisingly, she felt Elsa relax against her.

The city walls loomed and as the riders approached the tall gates, one of Elsa's men spurred his chestnut horse alongside hers as the palace guards stiffened and saluted smartly as the gates opened, allowing their queen to ride past.

Elsa gave them little more than a cursory glance.

Anna's eyes were wide with apprehension as she looked around. It was obvious to Elsa that the kingdom was over-whelming her. She sat quietly in the curve of the Snow Queen's arm, shackled hands resting loosely on the saddle horn.

After a few more minutes riding, they reached the centre of the kingdom, it was built out of sturdy wood and it had an imposing bulk that seemed to dominate the kingdom. Finally, Elsa reigned in her stallion in an open and snowy courtyard that was in front of one of the largest stables Anna had ever seen.

Elsa swung out of her saddle with un measurable grace, and helped Anna dismount.

A man came toward them, thin in face but tall and had a crooked smile. "Welcome home, your majesty" he said earnestly. He glanced at Anna quickly who had hidden partially behind Elsa, obviously over-whelmed by it all.

"Anna, this is Kai. He keeps everything around here running. Especially the stables." Elsa gave Kai a small smile as she handed him the reigns of her horse.

Kai regarded her with a soft interest, eyes holding warmth that Anna drank in immediately in the cold place.

"Kai, this is Anna. She's from one of the colonies." Elsa paused, sharing a secret look with Kai that made Anna feel distinctly uncomfortable. I want you to make sure she's fed and warm before I come and get her" she finished and gave Anna a light shove in his direction and with that she walked off. Her blue cloak flowing behind her like liquid blue snow.

Kai gave Anna a small look of apology as he grasped her firmly by the arm and began to walk toward the main bulk of the castle. Anna struggled to keep his pace as he led her along a corridor and down a flight of stairs.

Abruptly, Anna was pulled into a large room where an older woman and a young boy were sitting by a large stove. "Her majesty has requested for the new girl to be fed and-" Kai stopped, a mixture of remorse and pity as he noticed her red wrists from the shackles and the torn green skirt. "And some new clothing" he added softly. "Gerda, she's all yours."

The older woman stood up from her seat, salt and pepper hair falling softly and in wisps on her shoulders. "She's just a child." Gerda said taking in Anna's shackled arms hanging down by her waist and her slightly muddy cheeks. Kai gave a terse nod and turned away. "The queen will be coming here herself to get Anna." Kai told Gerda in a hushed whisper which earnt a surprised look from the brunette. "I see. Right then come along now, we shall get you taken care off." Anna heard the door shut with a sharp click as Kai left them alone. Gerda regarded Anna with concerned brown eyes.

"Olaf" Gerda turned to the little boy who was peeling carrots near to them. "Run along now and ask one of the maids if she'd like to play hide and seek with you in the gardens." The little boy, wide eyed and filled with freckles broke into a smile. "Thanks Gerda!" He said excitedly. Olaf had felt the tension when the pretty girl had walked into the room, it was a tension that could be picked up by children, but not interpreted as anything more than adults discussing important things that he had no business in.

He gave a shy smile to Anna and went through another door at the end of the room.

Gerda sighed uneasily as she smiled at the timid looking girl. The snow queen only came to the kitchens for check-ups and to over-view the staff.

Why would she go into the trouble of coming into the kitchens just for the girl? It had never happened before, and Gerda could only ponder sadly on what the Ice Queen had in store for her.

**A/N I'm so glad this story has received a lot of interest, thanks for literally making my day due to all of the reviews and followers I received !**

**They motivated me to write this chapter as soon as I got home from school.**

**Please review, things will be heating up in the next chapter and I hope you enjoyed this one. **


	3. Chapter 3

The day's events were beginning to catch up with Anna and she felt a lump rising in her throat. Gerda seemed to catch on and her faintly annoyed expression softened a little. She laid a gentle hand on Anna's shoulder. "Come along pet, we'll get you taken care of."

Anna gave a faint nod, blinking to keep back threatening tears. A few minutes later, the redhead found herself unchained and naked in a bathtub filled with gently steaming water, there was a thick, frothy covering of bubbles and the soap she had been given had a sweet scent to it. She gave Gerda a small glance but the woman seemed preoccupied in laying out clothes and other things.

After a while, Gerda turned to her with a quick smile. "Finished? Out you come."

Before Anna had a chance to be self-conscience she was out of the tub and being dried with a soft towel. "Put those on, I'm going to get a brush for those lovely locks of yours." She pointed to some clothes on the ledge and Anna walked up to them slowly, noting the silky dark forest green tunic and some slippers, gingerly she put them on, wiggling her toes in the soft fabric.

Gerda came back and sat Anna down on a seat as she began to brush out her damp red-golden hair. "Um" Anna said gently. "Who was Belle?" the petite redhead had heard the name being mentioned in the travels by the other soldiers. Although the ice queen didn't seem to change when the name was mentioned, curiosity had gotten the better of her.

She felt Gerda's hands pause in their work, the older woman cleared her throat and there was a small silence. "Belle was the Ice Queen's last girl."

Gerda replied a little too gravely for Anna's liking.

"Oh…what happened to her?" the redhead said softly. "She tried to run away." Gerda replied with a hint of sadness in her voice.

The redhead shut her mouth, she didn't want to hear the rest. "So, what exactly am I doing for the ice queen?" Anna said suddenly. "She didn't say what she wanted with me." Anna's green eyes blinked in troubled innocence, tears brimmed in her eyes and spilled down her cheeks.

Gerda heard her sniffing and turned Anna to face her, she sat down at her level,shook her head sadly and with her thumb she wiped them away.

"You mustn't cry in front of the queen my dear, it makes her angry. And the queen is very dangerous indeed when she is angry." Anna swallowed a sob and Gerda smiled warmly. "There's a good girl, now if you get dressed, I will bring you some warm soup from the other room."

There was a small click as the door shut behind the elder woman. With trembling hands, Anna began to put on the dress. It was soft, and warm. She internally admitted. And it felt good to be clean and washed, regular baths and showers were rare in the village and her and Kristoff would just go down to the lake instead and-

_Kristoff. _ Anna shut her eyes again, looking at the mirror in the corner she grabbed the brush Gerda was using and put her hair up in her usual style of a tight bun.

"Okay" she said aloud as she paced around nervously. Within seconds Gerda was back in the room, holding a tray of soup and cheese and bread. Kai appeared behind her looking rather flustered. "Hello Kai" Anna said softly, she didn't know if she was able to address them using their names, but Kai mirrored Anna's smile however apologetic his eyes were. "The queen has changed her mind, she wants to see you in her quarters now Anna."

Anna shivered, she looked at Gerda for support but was only met with troubled eyes. Kai looked at the tray of food. "Eat this quickly Anna, I'll be waiting outside for you."

Gerda brought the tray over to the desk and led Anna's hand over to it. "Just remember little Anna. Do as she says and don't cry. I've told you before that the queen doesn't like it when people cry, understand?" Anna nodded solemnly. She sat at the seat and looked at the meal in front of her. Although in her current state she would be too scared to eat, her body was so famished all other thoughts were forgotten as she brought the broth to her lips. It was sweet and tasted slightly of vegetables. Carrots to be exact, Anna guessed that the little boy Olaf had helped make it, the bread was chewy and the cheese was hard but Anna enjoyed every mouthful.

She ate politely and as quickly as she could before rising from her seat and looking at the older woman in the eyes. "Thank you Gerda." Anna said, a genuine smile playing on her lips. Gerda waved a small hand, "you just be a good girl. Hopefully, I'll see you again."

Bravely, Anna stepped out of the room being led by Kai. He held out a particularly familiar set of cuffs and Anna visably winced. "I don't want to put these on you anymore than you want them on you Anna. So, if you listen to me and don't cause trouble. We won't need to"

Anna let out a small sigh of relief, her stomach groaned uneasily and the redhead regretted eating her food so quickly. She gave Kai a nod and was awarded with a sympathetic smile. Turning on his heel, he walked through complicated doorways and corridors until finally reaching the Queen's quarters.

He stood by the side of the door, tilting his head suspiciously as he saw Anna pause. "Do you not come in with me?" she told him nervously as she watched suspicion drain from his face, he shook his head. "No, little one. You'll be fine"

Anna took a deep breath and pushed the door open and stepped inside to an empty room. Quizzically she turned to face Kai but the door had already shut behind her, Anna timidly took a step forward into the snow queen's room. It wasn't all what she had expected, she didn't really know _what _she was expecting.

There were no victims or prisoners who were pinned on the walls, no frozen figures that were used as statues as decorations, the floor was slightly warm and the bed wasn't made of ice or snow, it was a real, beautiful bed draped in silk. Along with a few closets and a desk. It was almost _empty. _ Anna realised as she looked around the queen's quarters. Just a cold, plainness that seemed unnatural in a room made of ice.

A few moments later, the queens tall form filled the threshold. Anna stared up at expressionless, from ice chips that made up Elsa's eyes and her blue armour still in place the queen was the picture of intimidation.

The redhead felt her mouth turn dry.

She watched mutely as Elsa trailed her icy eyes over Anna's small form, with an agonising pace she felt the Queen strip of her of any thoughts she had in her to begin with. 'Anna' The queen was able to speak softly yet with the glazing of a razor. The redhead thought. _She's speaking to you, say something. _ Her internal voice was yelling at her but the girls throat was finding it impossible to form words.

The queen surveyed her with an amused expression, confidently walking up to her and noting the heavy rise and fall of her chest. "Want to go home?"

Elsa caught the look of anger in Anna's gaze. The mocking tone was intended and she felt tears spring back into her eyes, but she remembered Gerda's words and with an effort she held them back.

"Yes m'am." Anna said softly, they both were surprised by Anna's steady voice and she averted her eyes so she wasn't looking into those oceans of ice anymore.

"If I were you, I'd forget it. You're mine now" Elsa said with a note of satisfaction.

Anna continued to stare at the ground in silence. "Do you hate me?" Elsa said, and the earlier mocking voice had turned into something less sinister.

"Yes" Anna rose her eyes to look at the queen's only to be met with an amused expression. "Hmm, you're very honest" the queen said almost calmly.

"You're coming with me now though, I want some company."

"W-where are we going-m'am?" Anna said, flustered and almost proud of herself that she had managed to survive another intense talk with the ice queen.

The ice queen turned to face her, the redhead stopping immediately and looking into Elsa's guarded expression, she was usually brilliant at reading people, at her village she was always a good mood interpreter, but with Elsa it was like looking at a blank wall. She was sure Elsa was always a step in front of her.

And Elsa's calm demeanour sent chills up Anna's spine.

"You'll see." The queen said monotonously. "You may even find it interesting."

**A/n **

**Thank you for reading, please review. It inspires me : ) Next chapter is already half written.**


	4. Chapter 4

The snow queen gave her arm a light tug. "C'mon. Move it" Anna timidly followed her out of the door. The sun was beginning to fall now and faint stars were beginning to dot the pale sky.

Elsa led her through a series of corridors, Anna keeping at her owners heel obediently. Whenever they passed people they would stop and give a small nod of their heads to Elsa and Anna noted how the older woman didn't give them a secondary glance.

The queen stepped out through a hitherto-unnoticed door and a blast of cool air struck Anna as she followed. She found herself in the open air, surrounded by snowy mountains. The sky was glistening softly above them and Anna gulped nervously as Elsa extended her hand to her collarbone and a flurry of snowy powder filled the air.

It looked to Anna as if she was performing some sort of warm up moves with her powers.

"Anna, go sit over there whilst I practise." Elsa said as she turned slightly so she could begin executing a more complex manoeuvre of creating ice spikes.

Anna complied and sat down. Whatever thoughts had been whirling in Anna's head were soon silenced as she watched closely to what Elsa was doing. The patterns she was weaving with her powers practically danced through the air, in breath taking arcs and intimidating shapes as they rose around her. The petite redhead's eyes grew larger and larger. She knew what she was seeing was incredibly magical, and she even found herself forgetting to despise the woman as she took in the display.

When Elsa finally stopped, Anna watched her as she took a deep breath and looked out onto the mountains, the redhead wondered if the queen had forgotten she was there at all. The snow queen seemed slightly melancholy and Anna breathed in the sudden and lonely apparition of this woman, she looked magnificent, pinned against the night sky. Her calm yet terrifying demeanour awaked a strong curiosity in Anna.

"It's beautiful." The redhead couldn't stop the words slipping out of her mouth and regretted it instantly as Elsa turned round slowly, anger glazing those icy eyes.

"Beautiful?" Elsa repeated bitterly, within a few seconds Anna was on her feet in a defensive stance as the queen took a few steps toward her.

With a precise flick of her hand, a circle of ice surrounded Anna's frame, jagged edges roaring up and stopping barely at her shoulders. "You believe this, is beautiful?" Elsa moved closer to her as Anna swallowed nervously, well aware that if she even touched one of those spikes it would pierce her skin.

She let out a sharp breath as she looked into Elsa's eyes. However unreadable they were there was a slight hidden emotion to them. It looked a little like Elsa was questioning herself, but Anna didn't breath a word, her breath turning to familiar smoke in the cool air.

She opened her mouth to speak, then clamped it shut up again as that ice rose higher around her. The redhead shut her eyes tightly, gripping her lip in her bottom teeth, before the ice melted around Anna, and she felt ice cold water smother her legs. The redhead heard Elsa's heavy breathing and she opened her eyes to see her mistress' closed ones.

"My practise is over." Elsa said through gritted teeth, Anna blinked and looked at the ice queen. Her breathing was ragged and the redhead swallowed a lump in her throat. "M'am." She said quietly, she gave her head a small bow, even though Elsa couldn't see her as she turned gracefully on her heel toward the door, Anna trailing behind her.

The redhead let out a shaky breath as she let out a small huff.

Contradictions had always fascinated Anna, ever since was little. Not like playing devils advocate or for example talking back to her mama or papa in the village who were yelling at her at the time, but real life ones.

Things that were ironic and expected. The woman behind the door was arguably the most dangerous and powerful in all of the lands. Anna had heard countless stories being told in her village how Elsa had murdered civilians, took vital supplies out of villages when the snow fell and the ground was hard. And yet, despite Elsa's feared and brutal reputation…Anna took a further deep breath and sighed. The few brief moments she had shared with the ice queen had only fed her curiosity and Anna swore she had seen something in the Ice Queen's eyes. Something so close to humanity Anna was almost desperate to find it again.

She mused idly that this was another one of those contradictions.

Anna followed Elsa into her quarters, only a few moments after there was a firm knock at the door. "Come in" Elsa said, her voice imperious. It opened and in stepped general Hans. Anna felt her guts twist in reaction. The last time she had seen this _man_ he'd clapped her in shackles and torn her away from her family. General Hans had been the one left in charge to finish the destruction of the village Anna had once lived in.

"Hans, I trust you had no trouble carrying out my orders?"

Hans shook his head and saluted. "Everything was…manageable your majesty." The rugged general jerked his head in Anna's direction, and the redhead clocked Han's leather sheath of his dagger, which hung at his side. There were no overt threats but Anna was terrified, and moved slightly to the left so she was behind the queen's back, hidden partially from Han's gaze which was torn between hunger and another emotion that made Anna shiver.

"I don't think I've had the pleasure of meeting your new girl queen Elsa. She's quite a pretty thing."

The ice queen's gaze hardened as she studied Han's eyes raking over the smaller girl hungrily. "You don't get the pleasure of knowing her." Elsa said firmly, eyes glinting like ice in the soft moonlight. She felt the uneasiness literally flowing out of the smaller girl and her face hardened further.

The Snow Queen watched blankly, not revealing any emotion as Hans gave a small chuckle, eyes cowering below Elsa's into Anna's terrified ones.

"Why are you suddenly not sharing your candy?" the generals dark eyes sparkled with interest. "Not even a bite?"

Anna held her breath as Elsa stepped forward and glared at him stonily.

Hans let out another bitter laugh, edged with nervousness now as he suddenly realised that a new boundary had been set and the temperature around them had turned icy. "Hackles down, wolf. I'm obviously only teasing you." Elsa rose a shapely eyebrow as she waved her hand in a sharp dismissal. "That's all Hans. You're dismissed." Anna peeked out behind the queen to see Hans give another salute before he left and shut the door behind him.

Anna let out a breath she didn't realise she was holding. The queen turned round to face her, calmly studying the moss green eyes that were etched with fear.

"You sleep over there Anna." She pointed to a small rolled down mat by the lit fireplace. A single blanket was next to it and Anna nodded respectfully walking over to the fireplace and putting her hands by it, soaking up the warmth from the high flames. Anna looked to the side and noticed there were also a change of clothes by the roll. Silently, she said a small thank you to Gerda in her head, for even though she knew it was her duty. She only hoped she could go down to the kitchens to see her again.

Elsa's eyes snapped open. _I heard something._ She thought as she listened intently. Her fingertips chilled instinctively as she waited and the sound came again, only this time the Ice Queen heard it properly.

It was a small and plaintive sob and it had come from the girl by the fireplace.

Sitting up straight she saw Anna bury her face into the pillow as the slim body quivered a few times. Elsa was annoyed at being awoken in the dead of night, she was about to say something but then Anna whispered a name into her pillow, a ghost of a sound. 'Kristoff.' she sobbed once more, sniffing as she curled up into herself even more.

Elsa's brow furrowed, she could vaguely remember Anna reaching for a blonde man in her colony as she was taken. _That must be him. _

Elsa averted her eyes, suddenly feeling awkward. She wet her bottom lip subconsciously, trying to get a grip on the feeling.

_If this was Belle. I would have just told her to shut up, I'd probably would have put out the fire for her waking me up. _The snow queen sighed, tiredly rubbing her eyes.

"Anna?" Elsa said, and she was surprised by the gentleness of her voice. She watched amusedly as the smaller girl stiffened, she twisted her body round to face her and sit up and Elsa noted the tear streaks on Anna's face in the moonlight.

"I'm sorry ma'm." Anna whispered softly. "I didn't mean to wake you"

"Are you cold? Elsa asked and the redhead's gaze dropped slightly and she sniffed a little. "Um, a- a little bit." Anna admitted bravely, dragging her fingertips to her cheeks she wiped away some of the moisture that was there.

"Come here Anna." The redhead's brow furrowed, but she didn't argue. Timidly, she rose and slowly walked over to Elsa's bed. She moved the blankets and the silk throw to allow her to lie in the bed before shyly, she pulled them around her again.

Elsa's expression didn't change and she rested her head back on the pillow behind her. "Homesickness doesn't last forever Anna." She said almost harshly. "You'll get used to it."

The smaller girl nodded and buried her forehead into the Ice Queen's shoulder and she involuntarily flinched.

That feeling Elsa had earlier rose again, but she scowled and said nothing.

After a while, Anna's slim form relaxed against her, breathing becoming more even.

_Thank god._ Elsa said silently, but she couldn't help a small smile play on her lips as she looked at Anna's peaceful face. With a small sigh, she closed her eyes and fell into a deep sleep.

A/n-

N'aw the ice queen is slowly beginning to warm up to our Anna.

Thanks for all the reviews, I told you they'd make me update faster!

Hope you enjoyed. ^^


	5. Chapter 5

Anna woke up to find herself alone in Elsa's bed, her body entangled in the silken sheets. She sat up groggily and rubbed her eyes, moving a hand over Elsa's side of the pillow she trailed a finger over the slight ridge where the queen had been sleeping.

The redhead's brow furrowed as she tried to recall last nights events. Pausing, she lifted her eyes to squint out of the far window, sunlight glazing the room in an almost beautiful light.

_Elsa._ She froze as she recalled the nightmare she had had, how softly spoken and gentle the queen was…how _incredibly_ soft her skin was too. An opposite of how people described her to be. Peering around the quarters she looked again for the snow queen but she was no where to be found.

Giving a slight huff she rose out of the bed and walked over to her sleeping mat by the fire. She shuffled her feet into her sandals and got dressed into her dayclothes. _Where was Elsa?_ Anna pondered idly as she continued through her morning routine of doing her hair and giving her face a quick splash with water in the basin.

_Surely I should be happy that she isn't here? _ Anna moved over to the door, pushing it open slightly and taking a few steps onto the corridor. She saw Gerda with two other middle-aged women she didn't recognise. Gerda was quick to look at her, dark eyes sparkling with questions. "I'm glad to see you're all right Anna." She said, "the queen ordered me to wait until you were up, you're spending the morning with me in the kitchens, lucky duck." One of the middle-aged women gave a snort of laugher. "I'm surprised you look as warm and clean as you do, not a scratch on her."

Gerda spun and gave the speaker a stern look. "There is no need to make inappropriate comments like that. Hold your tongue." The woman cowed and gave Anna a fleeting glance, but Gerda had taken Anna's attention back on herself. "Come along, I'll take you to the kitchens."

Anna fidgeted with her fingers as they walked. "Gerda?" she asked hesitantly, looking around quickly to make sure the women were out of ear shot. "Why wouldn't I be warm and clean?" Gerda's lips thinned a bit. "Ah, well you see they understand the queen is quite-well severe with her girls when she first gets them." She said slowly, eyes trained on the ground in front of them. "It's mostly her powers work, to strike them with fear so they don't get any ideas about turning on her."

Anna nodded her head in soft innocence. "Well, I was pretty scared yesterday. She made all these spikes come so close to my skin, I was petrified Gerda." The older woman studied her for a quick moment. "but her powers didn't touch you?" the slave girl nodded. "They didn't but I-uh. I slept in her bed."

"Simply amazing." Gerda shook her head in sincere wonder "you're sure you're not magic?"

Anna couldn't help but laugh, "don't be ridiculous, I'm not anything like that."

A few minutes later, they reached the kitchens and Gerda led her into a small room. "First thing you can do is help Punzie." She said softly, pointing a finger to a small girl in the corner. She was sitting on a stool at the opposite corner of the room, busily engaged in peeling carrots and potatoes, she was slightly taller than Anna, but thinner with a heart shaped face and light, large eyes.

She didn't turn her head as Anna entered, but Gerda gave her a encouraging pat on the back and pressed her shoulder forward into the room.

There was a small heap of straw covered with a shabby quilt in the corner, and two windows side by side of the north facing wall, letting in a fair amount of light.

Anna walked over and sat on the stool next to the nervous girl. "Hi, I'm Anna. You're Punzie right?"

"Yeah, that's me." The girls large eyes didn't lose any of their guardedness.

"Would you like me to help you peel these?" attentively Anna picked up a carrot and a sharp knife, and relief showed in the girls face. "That would be good. Thank you."

There was silence for a long time, before Punzie broke the silence. "You're Belle's replacement aren't you?" the smaller brunette said flatly without looking up.

Anna wet her lips as she noted the subtle quiver of Punzie's jaw. "I guess so. Did you know Belle?"  
There was another pause and Punzie swallowed, "yes. Belle was my friend."

Anna nodded slowly, apologetic smile trying to catch the brunette's gaze. "I'm sorry."

Punzie finally looked up and gave her a small smile and a nod of acknowledgement.

Anna caught her glance and took the opportunity to lighten the atmosphere. "Punzie is an interesting name, is it short for anything?"

She said softly. The girl's wide green eyes looked at Anna shyly. "It's short for Rapunzel, but that's a silly name."

"I think it's lovely" Anna replied sincerely. Rapunzel darted the redhead a quick smile as she watched Anna's eyes flitter over to the bed of straw in the corner.

"Do they make you sleep on that? Don't you get cold?" the redhead tilted her head to one side. It was fair, Anna pondered. That her own bed wasn't exactly ideal either. But Anna still retained her strong sense of justice, and it was stung by seeing the conditions Rapunzel had to sleep in. "That's not right at all."

Rapunzel shot her eyes down to her work as Anna noticed they suddenly got wet. "You sound just like Belle' the brunette said softly. "She was always going on saying how unfair the conditions were. She used to tell me things about Queen Elsa and how cruel her majesty could be. She said that if she managed to escape she'd get me out of here too-I…obviously I knew that wouldn't happen."

Rapunzel's eyes dipped lower as she sniffed. "It was nice to imagine things about it. I could be worse off, at least here I'm fed and I have a place to stay. If not, I'd probably be out on the streets."

Anna regarded the girl quietly for a moment. There seemed to be a small flicker of light in Rapunzel's eyes but it seemed almost _broken, _as if it had gone out a while ago and needed to be rekindled.

"Rapunzel…what exactly happened to Belle?"

there was a longer silence and the girl breathed out a shaky sigh. They worked in unison, cutting and peeling together as Punzie began to talk quietly.

"Belle couldn't stand the queen, she was terribly scared of her and she managed to get some money together." She said finally. "Her plan was to steal one of the horses at nightfall and slip out unnoticed." The brunette girl's eyes turned hard. "it was so _stupid_ of her. But they caught her near the gates, she didn't even make it out of the city Anna." The girl said softly, placing the knife down steadily on the floor, she rested her hands together.

"There were rumours though, I wasn't there. But you hear so much when you listen out for things around here. Anyway, I heard she was dragged in front of the queen there and then and the queen didn't even flinch. She just ordered Belle to be-"

"Rapunzel!" both girls jumped slightly when they saw Gerda step inside of the room, she looked nervous. "You know talk about that is forbidden." Anna sighed; she had so many more questions. _How many other girls were there? Was it just Belle or were there more?_ She would have to wait until her and Punzie were alone together again. "I didn't mean anything by it Gerda. Anna deserves to know."

Rapunzel said gently, Gerda gave her a pleading glance which Anna didn't catch. "Anna, come along now pet. There's an escort here who's taking you back to her majesty."

Anna nodded and rose with slight hesitation. She held back a frightened gasp as Hans took a step behind Gerda and Anna shivered involuntarily. Hans growled something at Gerda and she turned out of the doorway, when the general's eyes found Anna's he lifted a hand and beckoned.

The redhead felt her blood run cold and laid down the knife without a word, walking obediently up to where the older man stood. Her fear of Elsa was less than when she arrived here, but her fear of Hans was slowly increasing more and more each time she saw him.

"Anna, oh Anna." Hans rolled the name around in his mouth as if it were candy. "Elsa wants you back in her quarters, safe and sound. So come along." The smile he gave Anna was chilling and his powerful hand closed on her shoulder. Wordlessly, the slave girl let herself be led from the kitchens and through the corridors.

Hans was walking deliberately slow, his grip on Anna's shoulders didn't loosen and after a few moments he spoke. "This scenario is very interesting." He mused. "Just a little slave girl, there for every request Elsa gives you, but I think there's more to this than that." The general's eyes were unreadable as they slowed the pace further, Anna having to slow down to match it. "Why is she sending one of her top generals to be an escort for a slave? I mean, it's interesting isn't it? Never happened before."

Hans chuckled darkly and stopped by the foot of the stairs and Anna darted her eyes quickly as he tugged the redhead closer to him-entirely too close for Anna's comfort. "Forgive me" Hans said gently, he tucked a strand of loose hair behind her ear and Anna bit the inside of her cheek to withhold obscenities coming from her mouth.

"but I'm just trying to understand what it is about you that's made Queen Elsa like you so much." Anna felt Hans' breath against the side of her neck and shuddered, she almost expected to feel the general's tongue but it never came. _He's out of his mind._ _She doesn't like me more than anybody else does she?_

Hans pulled away slowly, and returned his grip on the young girls shoulder as they continued to walk up the stairs.

"Either way." Hans said almost mockingly. "You should be careful Anna. It may not be a good thing."

**A/N Shout out to rainbowwaves for giving me a few ideas regarding this story. Next chapter will be longer by the way.**

**Thank you for the reviews everyone, please continue it's inspiring!**


	6. Chapter 6

When Hans led Anna into Elsa's quarters, Elsa didn't bother lifting her head up. The redhead spied her looking down at what looked like a set of papers on her desk. Hans rested his rough hand on Anna's shoulder and bravely, she glowered darkly at him.

"Your majesty?" he said, slowly catching Anna's expression and returning a chilling gaze. "hmm?" Elsa said distractedly, "you took your time Hans. With sending my apparent best general, I would have thought it would be done in the quickest time, not in the slowest." The snow queen rose from her chair, turning to face the pair of them. But not quick enough however to see Hans hand efficiently leaving Anna's skin to tuck behind his back.

"Apologies your majesty. I-" Elsa flicked her hand. "I'm not in the mood for your excuses Hans. Leave us now." The general sighed, rolled his eyes dramatically and left.

"So Anna, what do you think?"

The slave licked her dry lips. "About what m'am?. The queen flicked her hand to the door indicating the general that had just left.

Anna looked down and frowned slightly. "I think he's pretty scary, and I don't think he likes you very much."

To Anna's surprise, Elsa gave a small chuckle.

"You're right Anna, he doesn't always approve of me. Some people can be extremely intimidated by someone who has a reputation of being undefeatable.

He has his flaws, but he is _very_ good at what he does." Elsa shrugged softly turning back to her desk to gather the earlier papers in a neat pile and placing them all in a large, thick envelope.

Anna took a deep breath, in her eyes the queen looked to be in a relatively good mood, and room didn't feel nearly as cold as yesterday, bringing her hands to interlace together by her stomach she looked up at the queen. "How long did you have Belle your majesty?"

The snow queen regarded her with a surprised frown. "Belle?" her eyes searched the slaves. "I had her for about five months. Why?"

Anna looked down at the floor, finding the snow queens intense gaze too much to handle. "How many have there been" she whispered "before me?"

There was silence for a few moments. "You're my ninth."

Anna closed her eyes, she felt strangely calm even though the logical emotion would be to feel deathly afraid. "You've reigned over the colonies for four years now Queen Elsa." Anna said passively. "So, none of your slaves could have lived for very long could they?"

Anna found the courage to look up through a fringe of dark lashes to see the queen gazing at her gently.

Anna swallowed in an attempt to get rid of her dry mouth. "How long do I have to live?"

The queen walked up to her, and very gently when she put her hands on the younger girls shoulders the petite redhead almost started. Electricity seemed to spark where Elsa had laid her hands, whether it was an affect of her powers or something else Anna couldn't decipher the reaction her skin had to Elsa.

The queen caught Anna's gaze with her own. "Why do you think that I chose you?"

The redhead blinked a few times, she definitely hadn't expected that question, and Elsa subtly tightened her grip on her shoulders. She shook her head softly, mouth parting in confusion. "I don't know your majesty."

Elsa released her shoulders and regarded her intently. "I chose you because you defied me." Elsa said. " I generally prefer a challenge when I have slaves. It's more fun to break through a spirited defence."

Anna considered this. "So you chose me because you wanted to break me…I guess you must be disappointed then" Elsa said nothing so Anna continued. "I've haven't really put up a fight since I've been here."

Elsa's body language was solemn and she looked at Anna with dominative eyes. "I'm not." She said softly. "You interest me, you don't disobey me, you don't really fight against me. But it's not because you can't? It's because you have a brain." Anna blinked. "I do it because I know there's no chance of me going back home again m'am."

"Well, like I said. You're smart." Elsa said dryly. "Belle fought me tooth and nail, she ignored all of the warnings I gave her. But you're smart enough not to do that. Every one of your predecessors chose to die, through running away, some even tried to plot against me and kill me" Anna's eyes widened. She couldn't imagine trying to even attack the woman who was towering over her.

The words echoed in Anna's mind with stark challenge. "I know I don't have a choice." She could already feel tears beginning to come to her eyes once again. But with an effort she held them back.

"You belong to me." Elsa said flatly. "I could kill you with my powers right now." Anna nodded wordlessly. "But to answer your question Anna, you can live as long as you want to, as long as you serve me you have nothing to fear. You may even learn not to hate me." The queen studied the young girls emotionally exhausted face for a moment. "Not going to cry?" the queen's tone was slightly mocking.

And Anna narrowed her eyes with a small, brave smirk. "No, they said it makes you angry when people cry." One of Elsa's shapely brows lifted. "You sure listen to _them_ a lot Anna. Maybe I should find out who they are and freeze some tongues"

Anna froze, the last thing she wanted to do was to get Gerda or Repunzel in trouble, she eyed the queen nervously but she noticed a slight twinkle in the light blue eyes. _Is she joking? _ The thought that the infamous snow queen might have a sense of humour came as quite a shock to Anna. But the queen made no further comment, instead she picked up the heavy envelope on her desk and pressed her finger to it gently, so it created a small blue mark to seal the document.

"You're accompanying me for the rest of the day Anna. There's an important meeting regarding one of the less grateful colonies that are under my command. Can't have you in the kitchens all day now can we?"

Anna trailed after Elsa and thought suddenly as she spotted a few seamstresses eyeing them together how many whispered conversations there were in the Palace. How many quick words were passed in corridors which Anna would overhear and knew instinctively not to spread them around.

Not that she had many people to talk too, although Punzie seemed like a promising friend and Gerda was a motherly figure to her, she couldn't forget her friendship with Kristoff

She shook her head in an attempt to get rid of the pictures in her mind before they overcame her.

The throne room, where Elsa held most of her important meetings was very grand, and a wide blood-red carpet led from the doors all the way up to where the seating was. Anna looked at the crowd of nobles and uniformed officials that filled the room.

Elsa seated herself calmly at the throne and Anna sat next to her on her right, the only people she recognised were Hans and Marshall who were to the queens left, looking around she felt rather small and looked up at Elsa, but she was taking no notice of her and was formally addressing the people who were seated around her. Anna didn't really understand much of the conversations, it seemed to go on for ages, Anna breathed out a small sigh as she began to make a controlled effort to sit still and avoid fidgeting.

Judging by the dangerous tone in Elsa's voice there was definitely some sort of heated argument going on, three men now stood in front of them, one of them gazing at her with a sour expression, the other was shaking his head in disbelief but his eyes held understanding within them.

Anna's gaze shadowed when she overlooked the third.

He looked a little older than herself, and she wondered why he had captured her attention. The young man seemed agitated, and his tongue kept darting out to wet his bottom lip in a fast pace. Scrunching up her eyes she tilted her head as the man withdrew a small object from his pocket. _What on earth is that? _ Anna's eyes widened as she realised it was a small dagger.

"Agh!"

The sudden outburst came from Elsa's mouth as Anna was suddenly pushed to the ground. Shocked and utterly confused, she saw a flash of blue as Elsa moved off of her seat, and the man was frozen in place from the head upwards. Suddenly there was screaming and people began to shout and run around.

Hans drew his sword and walked toward the figure trapped in ice. There was a blur of steel and Anna's eyes leapt around the chaotic scene. She could vaguely see through the pushing of people that there was a head lying on the ground.

And there was blood, a lot of blood. Anna felt like she was going to be sick.

A mere second later, she was tugged to her feet, Anna found herself being pulled into the corridor she had came from and further led into the queen's quarters. The queen was slightly off-balance. A moment later and the door shut behind them. Elsa's eyes were strangely anxious as she moved her hands over the slaves limbs. "Are you okay Anna?" she said sharply "are you hurt?"

"N…no. Me-me I'm fine but what h-happened to you?!" she blurted. "Elsa you're bleeding!" Anna was in too much of a daze to realise she didn't call the queen by her official name and she was stepping out of place, but Elsa didn't seem to notice. Wincing, she clutched at the small wound at her side.

"No, no this is fixable. It just grazed me. You should k-know what happened." The queen outwardly winced and allowed Anna with gentle hands to take her over to her bed.

"You're the one who drew my attention to him before he took out the dagger."

Anna's brow furrowed. "I don't know what you mean m'am."

"He was my would be assassin, you tensed up so I looked where you were looking and I noticed how agitated he was, it put me more on guard. Otherwise this would have been more than just a graze An-"

The queen was interrupted as a group of soldiers led by Marshal came into the room. Anna stood where she was as excited conversation rose around Elsa. The picture of the young man was lodged into her mind. She wondered who he was, he didn't look much older than her. Anna blinked a few times as she realised Marshall was staring at her roughly. Her head was still whirling in confusion and terror. "Do you?"

"Uhh" Anna backtracked to what had been said but she was out at sea. Marshal tugged at Anna's arm and she winced. "I said, do you have any medical knowledge to see to the queen's injury. Soldiers are limited trying to control the chaos in the other room." Anna gave a slight nod, "I can fix it"

Marshal turned to the Queen and she awarded him a silent nod. "Very well. Luke, hand the slave girl one of the medical kits." Marshal noted the distaste in the young girls eyes and turned to the queen. " Your majesty."

He gave a small bow and he walked out of the room, the soldiers following him.

Anna cleared her throat as she took in Elsa's image on the bed. She rose her eyebrows expectantly and Anna shivered and got onto the bed beside her. "Does it hurt?" _Good question Anna._

Elsa stiffened, "nothing I can't handle." She stole a look at the ice queens eyes to see they were trying to hide emotion and Anna almost forgot the brutality the ice queen was capable of. "Umm, could you uh-lower your dress ma'am?"

"Mm" Elsa mumbled as she took off her left sleeve and eased down the dress to reveal the wound, _and also her bra._ Anna's eyes widened, scolding her self for the completely inappropriate thought.

Elsa looked at her in amusement as she caught Anna's eyeline. "How's it looking doc?" the snow queen said in a voice the petite redhead wasn't used too. "I think you'll be fine your majesty, but it's gonna need stitches." Elsa sighed and leant back against the headboard. She eyed Anna with mingled frustration as she attempted to thread the needle in the dim light.

Anna boldly traced her fingers gently around the wound and the unexpected sight and feel of Anna's hand on her skin took away Elsa's power of speech.

With considerable effort, she recovered it but she struggled to remain impassive.

"Okay hold still" the redhead said tenderly as she began to sow.

Elsa struggled to get a grip on the feelings she was having. The needle piercing her injured flesh hurt, but on the other hand having Anna's hands on her skin was electric. Elsa watched with a guarded and cool expression as she studied Anna's eyes scrunching up in concentration with each stitch, and how the tip of her tongue came out to rest on her top lip. _She's adorable._

Bewildered, the ice queen forced her gaze away from Anna. What was wrong with her?

"How did you learn how to do this Anna?" she asked curiously, watching tender fingers ghost over her skin.

"My best friend Kristoff Ma'am." Anna said slowly, a small spark lighting up in her eyes.

"He was always getting into scraps because he'd always be of exploring, I was like his personal nurse." The redhead chuckled warmly at the memory. "He taught me how to do basic stuff like this, and in return I taught him how to cook. I mean I guess I'm okay at cooking-I wouldn't say I'm amazing but wow okay this one time we-" internally Anna realised her voice was rising with cheerfulness at the memory so she stopped immediately. She didn't want to enclose details about her past to Elsa. Those memories at least solely belonged to her.

There was a small silence as the queen didn't ask her to continue. " There" Anna sat back on her heels with a look of tolerable pride. "Nicely done." Elsa commented with a hint of surprise in her voice. Anna went over the wound with a wet cloth and packed the medical kit away.

Elsa hid a sigh as Anna's gentle fingers left her porcelain skin, her skin hadn't burned like that in a very long time.

**A/N ahh I have the best reviewers and followers ever ^^**

**I'm gonna say now that my updates just for the next for weeks will be considerably slow as my GCSE's are less than a month away and they have to be my first priority. So scary, but don't worry I promise the wait between stories won't last long! I really hope you're enjoying the story.**

**Please review it inspires me.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Well in the mists of study leave, I've finally found a window to update the story. Apologies for the wait everyone. There's a small dark section in this chapter as well which I didn't enjoy writing but it had to be included sadly.**

Anna's eyes drank in the sight of Elsa's fierce angles on her face, as the queen gingerly rose out of bed and walked around testing the stitches.

As the petite redhead watched her, she was reminded of the tenderness in Elsa's eyes when she had pulled her away from the chaos, how she had pushed her out of the way before she was hurt. _Was that the reason Elsa got injured?_ Anna wondered solemnly, her brow furrowing. _Because she moved to protect me?_

Thinking of these thoughts made Anna forget about slavery and even home for a while.

"Why did you push me out of the way? It was a very heroic thing to do mistress." Anna said suddenly, and they were both surprised by Anna's tone of boldness. Elsa's eyes looked at Anna as if she were telling a joke. "I'm no hero Anna, you of all people should know that. I've probably killed more people than you've met."

The air was slowly turning tense and Anna spoke quickly now, eager to keep the tension at bay. "Maybe you have your majesty" the smaller girl said thoughtfully as she tilted her head and looked down. "But, some part of me thinks there's more to you than that."

Anna swore Elsa's eyes held warmth, but once again they were covered in a wall of ice as quickly as it came. "Let's set some things straight Anna, I'm no hero. Not to you, not to anybody. With me, you're like a lamb in a wolf's den. Don't forget that for your sake."

Anna's moss green eyes rose to meet Elsa's. The slave didn't know why, she couldn't help what she felt. "I trust you your majesty." Elsa's moods were so inconsistent it was beginning to make Anna backtrack and regret she said anything, it was fact that Elsa was kind and gentle to her at times, according to Gerda, she regularly hurt her other slaves, but she had never touched her. That surely meant something didn't it?

Elsa shook her head. "Then you're lying, or suicidal. Why would you trust me Anna? No one else does. Perhaps you think you do because I'm your best bet of staying alive around here."

Anna thought about this, the queen did seem to be the one likely to shield her from any threat or danger here. She shivered when she thought of Hans, however it felt like something more than protection. But she decided to keep her mouth shut and looked up at the queen with soft mossy eyes. _There's more to you than this._

Anna didn't go back to the throne room until the court meeting had been reorganised and the officials were all there once again. She had hardly seen Elsa for the last couple of days as she had been sent to work in the kitchens. Elsa was busy in arranging meetings and getting to the bottom of who has tried to assassinate her. It was very boring, and apart from the few conversations she could capture with Punzie, she was being kept under strict eye from Gerda who had promised to keep the girl in check. However, when Anna was finally returned to be at Elsa's side,, there was something about her that Anna knew was different, it was the way there was no vulnerability or warmth about her when she walked into the threshold and silence fell like a curtain. Anna wetted her lips as Elsa made the silence stretch out uncomfortably, and then said "We aren't going to have a repeat what happened last time are we?" Elsa smiled acidly. "I would dislike to unleash my hounds on you once again." Anna wet her lips as she stood further back on the queens left side and cast a glance to Hans, who looked completely at ease and relaxed.

"But, perhaps let's just make sure I won't have to." She said wickedly, turning to the general and giving him a small nod.

The general moved like a large cat, movements smooth and precise. He had laid hands on a balding man in orange and green silks. He protested as Hans dragged him to the front of the steps and kicked him to his knees. Being held there by the scruff of his neck, the man looked up at Elsa pleadingly.

The regal ice queen turned to Anna gently, and spoke to her so softly that no one else can hear. "Anna, go back to my quarters, you can go to the kitchens if you like. You don't want to see this." Anna nodded gingerly and she backed out, disappearing in the velvet curtains behind the throne.

The queen turned on her heel and the temperature of the room dropped significantly, and Anna never knew what made her stop and turn back, what made her innocently naive face peek out timidly from the curtain's hiding place. "Apparently, Duke Campion is unhappy with my reign. So unhappy, he sponsored the kid who tried to assassinate me the last time we were all seated here." There were a few uncomfortable murmurs from the crowd.

"Y-you're majesty!" the duke flushed and his face turned a deep shade of red as beads of sweat appeared on his brow.

"Why-I-I am your loyal subject."

Elsa's blue eyes narrowed lazily, as she gave a nod to another of the generals who busily made work in binding the duke in ropes.

The ice queen turned and surveyed the audience's terrified faces. _Feel the fear, don't conceal it._ Elsa thought about Anna suddenly, what would have happened to her if she weren't here? If the assassin had killed her? Would she be sold to some slave trader, or would she be given to Hans? Elsa involuntarily shivered at the thought.

She turned back to the man, who was now begging for mercy. As Elsa rose her hand and pointed it in his direction she watched with a predatory smile as his face paled and his eyes widened.

She knew there Elsa carried the promise of death in her face, and she gave a snarl as she allowed the ice to begin flowing through her arms to deliver the blow.

"_No!" _And suddenly small hands were clutching at Elsa's arm, a small shout could be heard as Anna made contact with the icy skin which burnt Anna's palm.

The shock of it made Elsa freeze for a moment, her icy eyes flicked down to see Anna standing in front of her, the girl was crying softly and raising her able hand. "Don't! Please don't your majesty! He's tied up he can't even fight you! Put him in prison but don't do this!"

Rage flared up in Elsa's stomach as she saw the officials and members of the court glaring at her suspiciously. With a snarl she swung hard, her fist caught the slave full on the mouth, snapping her head back and throwing her to the ground. Elsa turned and froze the duke's heart and neck, killing him. Before rounding on Anna.

The slave was crumpled in a heap on the floor. Without a word, she reached down, caught Anna by the wrist and pulled her to face her. "Elsa please stop!" Anna was almost hysterical with fear and Elsa brought the back of her hand viciously across Anna's bloody mouth. "You defied me in front everyone! You humiliated me!" She could feel how hard and icy her fists were from her powers but she was being fuelled by rage and was unable to stop what she was doing, Elsa began to beat her with her fists. Not until Anna's screams had faded into pitiful whimpers did the ice queen finally stop. Panting with exersion, she let the slave drop.

In the dim light, she studied the horrified faces of the spectators and her eyes were like ice. "Don't you dare move until I give you leave." She hissed acidly. "Get out of here, all of you" she said turning to the spectators with grim satisfaction at their terrified expressions.

And she turned on her heel and headed to her quarters.

After a while, Elsa decided she wasn't doing anything productive and went down to one of the stables. It always calmed her being around horses. It was a soft side that she rarely showed, and she was silent until a familiar general appeared beside her.

"Hans. I'm not in the mood"

she caught him giving her a quiet smile. "Oh Elsa, Elsa. You're feeling bad about hurting Anna aren't you?"

Elsa's voice dropped dangerously. "Don't say anything else Hans."

"It's not a big secret. She's a sweet thing, makes you feel bad. Nothing wrong with that." The general continued dryly. Elsa rounded on him, her light pools of blue successfully boring holes into Hans'. "She is my _slave._" Elsa said, her tone affecting a brittle quality. "She defied me in front of everybody and she d-deserved what I gave her." Elsa swore as she realised she stuttered. _What is this girl doing to me?_

Hans shrugged. "Who's arguing? She's your slave and what you do with her is your business. We're as tough as they come Elsa, and I've known you for a long time so give me some credit" Hans paused to see if he was capturing Elsa's attention, not surprisingly the blonde didn't display interest nor disinterest, she was completely neutral.

"Anyway, we don't do the whole, sit down and talk about your feelings bullshit" Hans leant easily against the stable door. "But we're still human" the blonde took a deep sigh and turned to face the generals gaze. It was almost friendly, and he was right. They had known each other for a very long time, Hans knew her better than anyone . Which was why they were so casual around one another, this in turn could be a danger and Elsa was aware of that. But at that moment, Elsa couldn't help but give him an appreciate look.

Hans shifted comfortably as he looked at a sturdy thoroughbred being led into one of the stalls. "Listen, I know it wasn't my place but I sent Gerda to fetch Anna and clean her up. She's in your quarters with her now."

"Fine" Elsa muttered, eyes turning back to the horses "whatever."

Hans shook his head gently. "Stubborn old wolf. By the way, if it's anything the spectators were all pretty horrified by what happened…you successfully managed to shock them."

The comment would usually cheer up Elsa up, but if anything it made something in her chest hurt. She gave a tense nod of her head. "I'm going back to see how she is. "

Hans gave a respectful nod of his head and followed the famous ice queen with his eyes. The relationship between the ice queen and Anna certainly intrigued him, and he would use that to his advantage.

0000

The ice queen paused in the hall when she reached her own room, she was surprised to hear soft voices coming from inside. The door was slightly ajar and Elsa peered inside with a furrowed brow and saw that Gerda was sitting on the bed beside her slave.

Anna was sitting up whilst Gerda was pressing a red cloth to Anna's mouth, "it's alright love" the older woman was saying. Anna chuckled dryly "glad it was a clean hit then."

There was silence for a few moments and Elsa considered walking in until Anna broke the silence. "I don't want to be here anymore. Not that I wanted to before but now I'm scared! I want to go home!"

There was a pause and Elsa felt a lump rise in her throat, she swallowed it and took a deep breath. "I know it's hard Anna." Gerda said ever gentle, putting a comforting hand on Anna's shoulder, her eyes narrowed when she saw Gerda touching Anna. _Mine. _"-and your family are gone now. You have to get past this so you can adjust to your new role."

The smaller girl laughed bitterly.

"It's just her, she confuses me and she scares me Gerda."

"Good. I should do that." Elsa's voice cut into the conversation like a razor. Gerda gasped and turned abruptly toward the door, losing her grasp on Anna. The slave uttered no sound, and avoided the ice queen's gaze.

"Gerda, get out. Now." Gerda fairly fled from the room and as Elsa turned back to the petite redhead, Anna's face was still hidden as she continued to stare at an unidentified spot on the icy floor. The ice queen sighed gravely at the little slave as she took a few steps toward the bed. "Anna, turn around."

**So, I'm not entirely happy with this chapter, writers block combined with too much work is never a good combination, I rewrote this once already and had to edit a lot of the work in it afterward, so if you guys are feeling that I do apologise but I wasn't going to have you lovely readers waiting any longer. Thanks for reading and also thanks for reviewing to the anonymouses who I can't reply too xx**


	8. Chapter 8

"Anna, turn around." Elsa's tone affected bitterness and the redhead was stung by how dark her mistress' voice was coloured. She'd expected after her beating the queen would feel sympathetic toward her, perhaps even show her remorse. What a fool she had been to believe the ice queen had been something more.

Slowly, Anna turned to face her. Eyes now looking at the colours of cascading blue on Elsa's clothing. She wouldn't give the queen the satisfaction of letting her look into her soul through her eyes.

Anna's mossy orbs noted how Elsa took a step further toward her. There was silence for a moment, as the blonde raked over Anna's trim body.

She had been much more brutal than she had meant too. Elsa realised instantly as she took in the countless blue marks on her visible skin.

The ice queen moved toward the basin and dipped one of the white rags into it. She moved over to Anna's side and tilted her chin toward her so she could examine her face.

It was caked with dried blood and gravely, Elsa washed away the dirt to reveal an ugly purple bruise on the left side of her face and her lip was cut.

_There was no need for this._ A small voice commented at the back of Elsa's mind but hurriedly she pushed it away, Anna defied her in front of everybody, she deserved what she received_, I would never have cleaned up Belle or Ariel after I'd beaten them…I'd just let them suffer, that's the point of punishing a slave._

But as the powerful ice queen looked at Anna's averted teal eyes, she didn't even like the thought of leaving the younger woman to endure this alone. _What the hell is wrong with me?_

"_D_oes it hurt anywhere else?" the queen asked harshly. There was no way Elsa was going to reveal to the younger girl how genuinely concerned she was, so she covered up the emotions with piercing eyes and sharp words. She watched as Anna's lips tightened, and the petite redhead gestured to her ribcage, the ice queen's brow furrowed. _How could she be hurting there? I didn't-oh. _

Elsa's mind took her back to when Anna was on the floor and she began to punch her with fists which would have been as hard as ice.

Taking a steady sigh she hesitantly pulled the redhead to her feet. "Take off your dress Anna. I need to check the others." Elsa realised immediately that the command was softer than she intended it to be, but the gentle tone seemed to ease Anna out of her thoughts to slowly undress herself.

Whilst Anna was undoing her dress Elsa returned to the basin to rinse out the rag, she heard a small sniff and the ice queen turned around to see Anna standing there and her jaw almost went slack if it wasn't for the ice queens resilience to emotions.

She should have noticed the bruises first, especially the deep purple one which covered her right lower ribcage, but Elsa couldn't take her eyes off of the slave girl. She was practically gawking at her. Anna's milky skin was peppered with freckles and the plain bra she was wearing showed off a small, yet impressive cleavage. The curves in her clavicle were well defined and Elsa subconsciously wet her lower lip with her tongue. Anna seemed completely unaware that the queen was gawking at her as her teal eyes were downcast. Subconsciously, the slave girl grabbed her left wrist with her hand and held them loosely at her waist. She was holding a lot of her weight on her left side to prevent more pain in her ribcage.

Hiding the shakiness the queen suddenly felt in her limbs, she walked over to Anna to look at the injury. It was going to take a few days of rest for that to heal enough that she would be able to walk easily without pain.

Even in her pain Elsa caught Anna's eyes shining with a hectic brilliance. The mossy eyes were suddenly very aware and alert and Anna's whole body stiffened. Elsa regarded her coolly. _Easy Anna._ The ice queen walked around the slave girl once, checking for various bruises, but apart from the occasional colouring of dark skin there was nothing that stuck Elsa that needed her attention.

Without hesitation, Elsa came closer to the slave and pressed the cloth against Anna's bloody lip. The redhead winced and Elsa's eyes flicked up to hers for a mere second as she lightened the pressure.

The ice queen noted how miserable Anna's eyes were and she gritted her teeth. _I don't want her to look at me like that. I want her to look at me how she looked at Gerda._ Once again the queen looked at the dark bruises. _Gods I beat her black and blue._

Gently Elsa glazed her fingers over the slave's bruise and Anna flinched at the touch. "I'm not going to hurt you. Just relax alright?"

Anna nodded gently and the ice queen sighed. "You're my slave Anna. And I don't owe you any explanations."

The petite redhead bore the scrutiny in silence and Elsa suddenly felt exasperated, although she wasn't entirely sure why.

"Do you know why I did this to you earlier?" the queen was met with more silence and her tone softened. 'Because if I'm viewed as the most powerful, if people know that I am undefeatable, they're not going to go against me. I couldn't let a slave girl defy me in front of all of those people. It would have led to disaster." The ice queens voice was surprisingly calm and she waited patiently for Anna's voice to brake the silence.

"You didn't have to kill him m'am" Anna's voice was surprisingly hard and her teal eyes and chin rose in defiance and Elsa was admittedly surprised. She would have believed that the beating had weakened Anna's spirits, but if anything it had made them stronger. It was also curious how Anna seemed only concerned by the duke who had been killed, and not her own injuries.

Steadily, Elsa listened to Anna's heavy breathing and the blonde's eyes threatened to drown the redheads.

"_That_ is not any of your concern." The queen said tightly, her blue eyes glowering darkly. "I don't know what you've made me out to be in that pretty little head of yours, but I'm nothing more than a monster."

The ice queens gaze softened and Anna caught it. "Are you hurting anywhere else?"

The redhead shook her head mildly. "No ma'am. I'm okay."

Elsa gave an awkward nod. "You sleep in my bed tonight. Just so I can keep an eye on you okay?"

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

The next morning, Elsa was awoken by the strong sunlight streaming in the windows. _Gods I've slept in._ The ice queen felt warm and comfortable, she smiled as she felt the gentle warmth of her slave's body cuddled up at her side. Anna hadn't woken Elsa up during the night, and the ice queen decided professionally that Anna had suffered bravely on her own rather than telling her mistress she was suffering from the bruises. Elsa peered down at Anna with interest; the fiery redhead was a different person in her sleep.

No longer did she have guarded eyes and tense features, replaced instead with a small smile as if she were dreaming about something special. Smiling looked good on Anna, it softened her sculptured face and made her seem warmer. Anna also tended to snuggle in her sleep, like a puppy.

Elsa had realised that both times she had slept with the petite slave, Anna seemed to forget who her mistress was in waking life and instead cuddled up to Elsa as if she were her friend.

The blonde almost _liked_ the feeling of the slave being so close to her skin, she couldn't honestly remember the last time someone was fearless enough to come so close to her without shaking uncontrollably or begging for mercy. Of course, her palace staff and generals, Hans specifically were slightly less guarded around her.

Elsa let out a deep breath, and absentmindedly moved a stray piece of hair off of Anna's face. _What do you see in me that no one else sees?_

The movement disturbed the tranquillity of Anna's features. She murmured, scowling a little and buried her face in Elsa's shoulder.

_What a shame_. The ice queen thought darkly. The blonde's shapely brows furrowed as she came back to reality, _she'll come back to hating my guys when she opens her eyes. _

Infuriatingly Elsa found a part of her quickly dismissing that thought. Instead focusing on the gentle rise and fall of Anna's chest. She couldn't help but remember what Hans had said earlier. Did she have a _soft spot _for Anna? _I would never have held any of my previous slaves like this. What makes her so different?_

Elsa absentmindedly ran her fingertips across Anna's back and her brow furrowed. _She needs to be marked. _However after this ordeal which had left Anna bruised and battered the queen was hesitant to acknowledge that the marking of her little slave needed to be done.

_There's no difference to her then to my other slaves._ Elsa repeated solemnly in her head. _No difference._

**A/N Sorry about the length of my AN. Ignore if you wish.**

**Who is this burntwhitemocha? Where has dreamerlikeyou gone?! I've never had to change a pen name before and I have only changed it due to reasons I deemed necessary. So I apologise profusely as I have most likely caused confusion amongst my readers. **

**The reason being is that. Ahem. I haven't actually come out yet. I'm still in the closet (don't worry I've decorated it with Elsanna posters and everything) and as a few people found out about my FF account at school and my pen name I had to make a rash decision and change it, mostly because I really couldn't face the aftermath of people finding out through my personal account of lovely fanfiction. I was literally in Starbucks hence the quite irrelevant name, but white mocha is amazing like holy shit you should try it : O Anyway I'm sorry for this confusion and I hope you can understand. Till next time. **


End file.
